Temperance Of Fire
by turtlelly
Summary: Raph had a lot of fears, but the worst was when the anger took over. He was always afraid he would hurt someone when he lost control. But then he met her, and everything changed. She infuriated him to the point of madness, but he couldn't deny his attraction to her for long...Will she be the one to calm his temper?
1. Chapter 1

It was a normal type of night, not too hot, not too cold, with a few stormy clouds beginning to roll in across the midnight sky. The turtles had split off for the patrols of the city, and Raphael was off on his own across the rooftops, angry as usual. Leo's "Fearless Leader" act was getting particularly annoying today.

Preoccupied, he almost didn't notice an odd green flash erupt from the nearby Manhattan College's Department of Science building. Almost. He leapt down soundlessly from a nearby rooftop approaching the one story building cautiously. It was nearly midnight; none of the college students should have been around, no one to see him.

Raph entered the building, twirling his sai around his fingers uneasily; schools at night were so eerily quiet. The flash had come from the fifth window to the right, and Raph made his way there gingerly pushing open the classroom door.

A man in a lab coat stood with his back to the door, working on something that was encased in shadow. His greasy brown hair was slicked back in a ponytail, and he was muttering distractedly to himself in a crazed manner.

"Incredible…amazing!" he said excitedly "I've done it!"

"Ahem" Raph coughed and the man spun around "Done what?"

"Another one!" the man breathed "Where did you come from? I did not create you"

Raph frowned "Create me? Usually people run away screaming from me, not get all hyped up"

"You, my friend, are an excellent specimen" He circled Raph, almost examining him, rubbing at the eye patch that stretched across his head

"Hey, watch it!" Raph scowled, stepping away from him "I ain't some experiment"

"I'm afraid we haven't been properly introduced" the man bowed "I am Captain Filch. And this" he gestured into the shadow "Is Mona Lisa"

Raph looked closer and against the darkness he could barely make out the figure of a woman, tied to some pipes running along the wall.

"What the hell?" Raph said angrily, pointing his sai at the captain's throat "Who is that? Why ya got her all tied up?"

Captain Filch chuckled "She is the subject of my experiment. But don't worry, she was a volunteer more or less"

"Experiment?"

"Of course, you can't see" Captain Filch began to giggle manically "Allow me to-haha-shed some light on the subject". He clicked on the overhead lights and in a moment the room was illuminated.

Squinting against the harsh lighting, Raph caught only a glimpse of green before the room swam into focus and he truly saw. There was a woman tied to the pipes, but she was different like him; her skin was a velvety green.

He didn't see much detail before a red haze of anger clouded his vision. With a roar, he charged at Captain Filch, who sprang nimbly out of the way.

"Stand still ya little slimeball so I can knock yer teeth out!" Raph yelled "Who ya think ya are, goin' around hurtin' innocent girls?" He finally caught up with the captain and clocked him on the head with the handle of his sai, knocking him out.

Raphael breathed heavily, the red haze disappearing as he calmed himself down. Finally, he looked at the girl tied to the pipes, studying her as he untied her. She's young, he thought, kinda pretty. She was a dark green color like him, but instead of a turtle, she appeared more lizard like. Her silky brown hair was covering most of her face as she breathed shallowly, unconscious.

Deciding that a human hospital probably wasn't the best idea for two reptiles, Raph scooped her up and began walking towards the lair, figuring Donny could probably patch her up.

On the long journey there (It was longer when carrying a whole person) he caught himself gazing at her face intently and looked away hurriedly. She ain't even that attractive, he scolded himself, get a grip, Raph. Still he couldn't help but wonder what her story was, where she had come from.

When they finally descended into the safety of the sewers, the girl started to cry out in her sleep. "….Freak" she blubbered "I'm a…green…freak"

She continued to shake in his arms, and Raph held her closer, trying to calm her "It's alright. Yer gonna be ok, I gotcha now, yer safe"

"…safe?" the girl murmured, nestling closer to him

"Safe" Raph said firmly, as they neared the lair "You'll always be safe with me around"


	2. Chapter 2

Loud noises and dim lighting were what greeted her as she began to wake up. At first all she could hear was the sound of rushing water, but soon she could hear a what sounded like Guitar Hero, and someone's immature voice yelling "Aw yeah! I beat your ass good didn't I Raphie-boy?"

"Shut up, Mikey or I'll be the one beatin' yer ass, literally" a heavy New York accent threatened

With a groan, she opened her eyes and rubbed her head. The first thing she saw was a fuzzy blur of green and purple that shouted "Hey guys, our mystery woman is awake!?

"How she doin', Don?" the New York accent came closer as her vision focused

She was in some sort of large underground space, sparsely decorated with torn couches, an extremely old box tv, and a flimsy looking table. Her main focus, however, was on the beings in front of her.

She simply eyed the four of them for a second before shaking her head with a sigh. "What the hell kinda drugs is that psycho injecting me with now?" she muttered, wincing as she sat up. Her leg was bandaged just below her shorts, and her shoulder as well, she noted internally.

The turtle with the orange mask widened his eyes "Whoa dudes she didn't even freak out. That's a major first"

"She's one of us, Mikey" the purple turtle rolled his eyes, and focused on her "What's your name?"

"Mona" she stared at her green hands unhappily "Mona Lisa". Glancing up at the four of them she added "I'm not hallucinating, am I?"

"Unfortunately, no" the purple turtle grinned wryly "My name is Donatello and these are my brothers. The one in the blue is Leonardo, the super annoying one in the orange is Michelangelo-"

"Hey!" the orange turtle protested "I'm not annoying! I'm super cute" he winked at Mona "You can call me Mikey"

Donatello pretended to gag and continued "And the one with his arms crossed looking like he wants to kill everyone is Raphael"

The turtle with the red mask grinned and said in his accented voice "Thanks fer the intro, geek wad"

"Hot head"

"Dork"

"Enough!" a raspy voice said firmly and Mona turned to see an ancient rat descending the rickety staircase.

"This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder" she sighed

The rat bowed "I am called Splinter, Ms. Mona Lisa. I am their father and teacher" he gestured to the turtles.

"Now that we're all acquainted" Leonardo said seriously, raising an eyebrow "Would you mind telling us why you were tied up in the Manhattan college building?"

"This crazy guy, Captain Filch kidnapped me from the college" Mona leaned her head back "He performed experiments on me". Tears began to well up in her eyes "Turned me into this" she gestured distraughtly to her entire body "A green freak". All of the turtles winced at her words and she added "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. It's just...hard, ya know?"

Donatello smiled a little "Trust me we know better than anyone what that feels like"

"I don't know what I'm gonna do" Mona wrapped her tail protectively around herself "I can't go home like this, I can't go to my job, or school..."

"Sensei, she can stay here can't she?" Leo turned to Master Splinter

"Please, Sensei?" Mikey begged "Can we keep her?"

Mona flushed "That's very considerate, but I couldn't; I mean I hardly know you guys"

"That is true" Splinter nodded "My sons, why don't you tell her our story? I will be in the dojo, and when you are finished you may come speak with me, Ms. Mona Lisa"

"Just Mona is fine" she blushed "And sure I guess"

As Splinter walked away, Mikey got extremely excited "Can I tell her the story? Can I?"

"Mikey!" All three of them groaned in unison, and Donnie pinched the bridge of his nose "Just go"

"Okay!" Mikey rubbed his hands together. Hands, Mona noticed, that only had three fingers, "So, me and the dudes were like babies, right? Just four normal turtles goin' about our business, when all of a sudden we got covered in this ooze stuff, what's it called, ummm…"

"Mutagen" Donnie interrupted

"Right!" Mikey brightened "So then we got turned into human turtle dudes, and Master Splinter took care of us 'cuz the mutagen turned him from a human into a human-rat. And he taught us all our ninja stuff". He imitated a karate pose "Hi-yah!"

"You guys are ninjas?" Mona grinned a little "I find that hard to believe; aren't turtles supposed to be slow?"

"Oh, you should not have said that" Leo chuckled "Guys, why don't we play a little game? First one to get Mona's bandana off her neck without her noticing wins"

"We're gonna make you eat your words, Mona Lisa!" Mikey laughed as the four of them threw down smoke pellets.

Mona coughed, waving the smoke away to see that the turtles had vanished. "Guys?" she called uneasily "Mikey? Donatello?". Those, unfortunately, were the only two names she could remember; the red and blue ones hadn't talked as much.

Something raced behind her and she spun quickly, but there was nothing there. Glancing down, she realized her bandana was missing. "Hey, give that back! I believe you, alright? You're ninjas"

"Come an' get it, Lizard Girl" the accent called out and Mona glanced up to see the red turtle up in the rafters. He had his arms crossed, leaning against a support beam, grinning and waving her bandana tauntingly. Mona's heartbeat sped up a little; in that position all of his muscles were very well defined, and he looked kinda hot. _What?_ she thought to herself, _Turtles are_ _not_ _hot, Mona._

Mona moved a few steps back and took a running leap at the wall, fully expecting an embarrassing moment where she hit the wall and slid down it. But that wasn't exactly what happened.

Mona opened her eyes, surprised to find herself suctioned to the wall with the webbing between her fingers. Grinning, she scaled the wall up to the rafters, landing on the same beam as the red turtle.

He looked impressed "I didn't know ya could do that"

"Yeah?" Mona panted "Well I didn't either. Lizard Girl-1, Turtle Boy-0"

"I got a name, ya know" he said, ducking back as she tried to grab the bandana

"Um..." Mona lunged and missed again as he sidestepped out of the way with ease "Donatello?"

"Nah" he laughed as she tried to grab him again

"Leonardo?"

"God, no"

She took a step toward him again, but her foot missed and she tripped, plunging over the side of the rafters with a startled yelp. She didn't fall far before a pair of strong green arms caught her and pulled her back up.

Mona stared into his emerald green eyes and asked breathlessly "Raphael?". The green eyes crinkled as he grinned and put her back on her feet.

"That's my name, Lizard Girl. Don' wear it out"

She dusted imaginary dust off of her skirt, trying to think of a witty response, and when she looked back up he was gone.

"Hey, where's my-" She glanced down at the bandana that was back around her neck "Oh"

Mona climbed back down to the ground level and found the orange and purple turtles playing Guitar Hero. _Mikey and Donatello_ , she corrected herself

"Mona" a voice said and she turned to find that the turtle with the blue mask had come up behind her silently

"Hi" she smiled awkwardly "Leonardo, right?"

"Just Leo is fine" He smiled a little "You should probably go talk to Master Splinter now"

"Probably" Mona agreed. Leo went to watch the guys play Guitar Hero and Mona headed towards where she had seen Master Splinter disappear, glancing around disappointedly for Raphael.

She knocked nervously on the door to the dojo and slid it open when Master Splinter called "Come in"

"You wanted to talk to me, Master Sliver?"

"Splinter" he smiled a little as she blushed "I wish to let you know that you are welcome to stay here as long as you like. My turtles, although they are teenagers, are honor bound and will not bother you. And if you ever need someone to speak to, I am always open. I know better than anyone, what you are going through". He sighed deeply "The transition from human to animal is a difficult one, and although you lose many valuable human traits, you also gain new, useful animal traits"

Mona nodded unhappily "It hasn't been very easy so far, but I'm getting more used to it" she twitched her tail

"So, would you like to stay here for a while?" Master Splinter asked kindly

Mona hesitated and then smiled shyly "Sure I guess. Thank you for being so hospitable"

"You are very welcome, Mona Lisa"


	3. Chapter 3

Over the next week, Mona got used to the turtles' training schedule and when not to bother them. She laughed and ate pizza with them when they were relaxing, and when they were training she either read or cleaned. She couldn't stand the mess the four teenagers made, and she didn't mind the work much. Besides, it had been amusing the first time she had cleaned, and they had looked so astonished at how their home looked without trash littered all over it.

During this period of time it became more and more apparent to Mona that Raphael was avoiding her. He would excuse himself to his room whenever she came and sat in the living room, or he would eat dinner on patrol instead of with everyone else. At first Mona thought maybe it was because she was a girl, but that theory was shattered when she met April O'Neil, who all of the turtles were glad to see, including Raphael.

April, who was actually fairly nice, had been thrilled to have another "girlfriend" and had even offered to share some of her clothes because they hadn't been able to salvage everything from Mona's dorm. Mona had borrowed only a few clothes, which she had had to cut holes in for her tail to fit.

While Raphael may have been avoiding her, Michaelangelo certainly wasn't. He tried to flirt with her every chance he got, which Mona thought was kinda cute. She wasn't interested in him that way of course, but it was a bit flattering.

As Master Splinter had said, most of the turtles didn't bother her in that way, but it didn't seem to be because of any honor code. Donatello was constantly teased about having a crush on April, and once someone had mentioned a kunoichi named Karai, and Leonardo's face had turned about as red as a turtle's could get. Mikey had a small puppy crush on her, but it wasn't that big. And then there was Raphael. She had no earthly idea what his deal was, maybe he was also in love with someone like Donny and Leo.

It was a rainy Tuesday, about a week and a half after she had been abducted from the college. The turtles had been rained out of patrols, so most of them had gone to do their own things; Donny to his lab, Mikey to his comic books etc.

Mona was writing a letter to her mother, assuring her that she was alright, and not to be worried. She was sure that by now the college would have notified her of her daughter's disappearance, but Mona was afraid to go home. She feared Captain Filch would follow her home and hurt her family, and she wasn't sure how they would react to her mutation.

"Watcha writin'?" the accent said, coming up silently behind her

"Oh, he speaks" Mona said sarcastically, and Raphael frowned

"What're ya talkin' bout, Lizard Girl?"

"You've been avoiding me" Mona muttered "And my name isn't Lizard Girl; that's extremely insulting"

"I know" Raph smirked "It was meant to be, Lizard Girl. Ya didn't answer my question"

Mona ignored his comment and simply said "I'm writing to my mother"

"Aww that's cute" Raph sneered "Is mommy dearest worried about ya?"

She whipped around and stared at him with dark chocolate eyes "What is your problem, Raph?"

"It's Raphael" he crossed his arms "My friends call me Raph"

"Wow, um ok then" Mona swallowed a lump of disappointment and returned to her writing, _I'm alright Mom, really I am-_

"Don't ya think you've worn out yer welcome?" Raph interrupted her writing "I mean its been almost two weeks"

Mona gritted her teeth "If Master splinter wants me to leave, or if I find somewhere else to go, I'll go, ok Raph?" And then seeing his face she added "ael"

"The sooner the better" Raph said sourly and she glanced at him

"Seriously, what is your problem? I'm sorry if I did anything to offend you or-"

"Yer presence offends me, Lizard Girl" Raphael glared at her "And I don' appreciate ya leadin' my little brother on, either"

Mona choked "Excuse me? I am so not leading him on! I have told him at least five times that I'm not interested, and I've only been here for a week and a half!"

"Yeah, and then why stick around after that?" Raph shrugged "I just think it'd be best fer everyone if ya went on yer way"

She stared at him for a second and then slit her eyes "You know what?"

She remained silent so long that he finally had to ask "What?"

"I think I'll stay" Mona glowered at him "Just to piss you off, _Raphael_ "

Raph's fists clenched up "Oh yeah, Lizard Girl? We'll just see how much ya like it here after I make your life hell"

"Go right ahead, Turtle Boy" Mona laughed "Show me whatcha got"

"Oh, you'll find out" he muttered angrily, walking stiffly away

Mona just laughed and turned back to her letter. _Just another hot air bag, full of anger and empty threats_ , she thought.

She was dead wrong


	4. Chapter 4

A few days had gone by and Mona had seen neither shell nor tail of Raphael. He seemed to be planning something, but Mona couldn't figure out what it was.

She had just finished taking a shower, and getting dressed, toweling her wet hair dry. She stepped out of the bathroom and immediately regretted it as she felt a few somethings, slimy and runny, drip into her newly washed hair.

"Gotcha" a New York accent chuckled from the shadows above the door

"You slimy asshole!" Mona seethed, dragging eggshells out of her hair, "When I'm done with you, I'll be using your shell as a soup bowl!"

"Mona, are you alright?" Master Splinter appeared at her side, concerned

Mona scowled up at the shadows, raking her fingers through her hair "Peachy keen, Master Splinter". With an annoyed huff, she returned to the bathroom to wash her hair again, vowing to make that stupid turtle pay.

A few hours later, Mona was in her room reading a book when there was an exasperated yell downstairs followed by "MONA!". An evil grin slid across Mona's face as angry feet pounded up the stairs, quickly replaced by an innocent look as Raphael burst in.

"What the hell?!" He yelled, waving his hands frantically

"What?" Mona tried to keep her straight face, but couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing. She had slathered his sais with slow drying super glue, and he looked absolutely ridiculous, flailing his arms in an attempt to get the sais off his hands.

"You are so dead!" he shouted, chasing her around the room. She bounded away from him and out the door, laughing as he raced after her down the stairs. She leapt over the couch and dodged him as he tried to chase her around the couch.

"Can't catch me, Turtle Boy!" Mona taunted, infuriating him even more

"AAAGH YA DAMN LIZARD!" He screamed "I'M GONNA-"

"Raph, calm down!" Leo interrupted, pushing him back on the couch. The other three turtles had been watching with amusement until Leo finally intervened when it got too far.

"Deep breaths man, deep breaths" Mikey hovered over his big brother worriedly

Raphael squeezed his fists and breathed raggedly, struggling to regain control of his temper. Finally, he seemed to calm down, but still glared at Mona with a fiery hatred.

"What are you two fighting about?" Leo asked

Raph closed his fists over his sais and shook his head angrily "Nothin' ". He stalked up to his room, and Mona watched him go, puzzled.

"What's up with him?"

"He has severe anger issues" Donny sighed "He can ususally keep it under control with short outbursts of emotion, but every so often he just-" 

"Ka-blewie" Mikey made an explosion gesture with his hands.

"What did you do, anyways?" Leo asked

Mona's mouth quirked into a smile "I might have superglued his sais to his hands". Seeing Leo's disapproving look (and the other two chuckling) she added "Only because he dropped eggs in my hair"

"You guys are having like a full out prank war!"Mikey bounced excitedly on his feet "Can I join?"

"No" Mona and Leo said at the same time, and Mikey deflated. To cheer him up, Mona added "You're too good a prankster, Mikey. We wouldn't be able to keep up"

Mikey brightened a little "Yeah I could get both you guys easy"

Mona left the turtles and went upstairs, biting her lip as she passed Raph's closed door. She worried that maybe her prank had been too harsh, feeling a little guilty.

Raph was desperately struggling to remove the sais from his hands, which was difficult because every time he jerked too roughly the sharpened tips would prick the inside of his palms.

While struggling, his ninja senses picked up the sound of something being slid under his door. He crossed quickly to the door and yanked it open, but whoever it was had disappeared.

Glancing down at the floor, he saw that it was a piece of paper wrapped around something. He opened it to find a small tube of something labeled "Antidote".

He picked the tube up cautiously. Of course, picking it up released the mechanism Mona had designed to squirt water in his face.

"Uggh, that lizard is gonna get it…." Raph muttered, wiping water off his face; he was grinning a little though. With an overly dramatic huff, he went to the bathroom to remove his sais from his sticky hands.

Raphael dropped eggs in Mona's newly washed hair every morning for the following week, and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it! She had tried everything, from wearing a hoodie to a full metal helmet, but somehow he always got her hair.

 _Stupid ninjas_ , Mona thought crankily. One morning she tried a different approach.

Usually she took her clothes with her into the bathroom so she could change after her shower, but this time she left them in her room on purpose. As the steam began to dissipate from from the bathroom, she stepped out into the hallway and grinned as she heard Raphael suck in his breath.

She wasn't wearing anything but a towel.

Mona walked as slowly as she possibly dared towards her room, feeling Raphael's eyes on her the entire time. finally she reached her door and paused, glancing back amusedly at him, frozen above the doorway of the bathroom, an egg in one hand.

Finally he croaked out "Mona….what are you…"

She smiled impishly "Improvising". She regarded him for a moment and then added "You had better stop dropping eggs on me, Raphael, or next time I just might come out without the towel"

Raph blushed a darker red than his mask as Mona entered her room, closing the door softly behind her.

With a small groan, Raph leaned his head back against the rafter, squeezing his eyes shut. What was this girl doing to him? Why did she have to be so infuriatingly beautiful? It made it nearly impossible to hate her although Raph had certainly tried as hard as he could. She was so...distracting.

Raphael didn't drop eggs on her anymore but instead focused on other ways to infuriate her and she returned the favor.

It might have gone a little too far the day when Raph hung her underpants from the rafters in the ceiling. He knew she wasn't advanced enough in her training to get that high up, so she was forced to leave them there, until Master Splinter noticed.

"What" he said slowly, looking up at the ceiling "Are a pair of undergarments doing on the ceiling?". When no one responded, he lowered his gaze to Raphael and Mona.

"Don' look at me, Sensei" Raph said innocently "I definitely don' wear frilly stuff like that"

"Yes, but I very much doubt Mona Lisa got her own undergarments that high up on purpose"

When neither one of them responded, Splinter sighed "You two, in the dojo. Now"

Apprehensively, the two reptiles followed him into the dojo.


	5. Chapter 5

Master Splinter regarded his two kneeling student, neither looking at the other before he spoke, "What, may I ask, is this about?"

Raphael glanced up at him "Is what about?"

"This 'prank war' as Michelangelo would put it" He looked at them very seriously "The one that is only going on between the two of you?". When he was answered with silence, he said amusedly "Very well if no one will answer me, I will tell you what it looks like to me; a view I am certain neither of you will like"

Raph and Mona remained silent, and Mona bit her lip as Splinter continued "What I believe is occurring is that the prank war is merely a way for the two of you to avoid confronting the attraction you feel for each other"

This was met with a chorus of protesting from the both of them, which Splinter silenced with a wave of his hand. "You say no? Then allow me to prove it to you. Raphael" he commanded "Attack Mona Lisa with everything you have"

Raph's eyes widened "Sensei, she ain't even trained yet!"

"Donatello and Michaelangelo do not fight as well as you" Splinter said solemnly "Yet you have no hesitation in attacking them"

"Yeah, 'cuz I know they can take it" Raph argued

"Scared, Turtle Boy?" Mona said tauntingly, knowing it would make him angry

Raph finally looked at her, albeit furiously, and shifted into a ninja pose "Fine then. Let's go". She waited for a moment to see what he would do, and when he did nothing, she attacked.

He blocked all of her blows easily, but as she kept trying frustratedly to punch him at least one time, she noticed he wasn't sending any returning attacks.

"Need I remind you, Raphael, you are supposed to be on offense, not defense" Splinter called out as they continued to spar.

"What's the matter, Raphie?" Mona whispered, too low for Splinter to hear "Too good to hit a girl?"

He growled low "Just keep pushin' my buttons, Lizard Girl. You'll regret it."

Mona laughed "That's it? Sounds like empty threats to me, Raphie"

"Don'. Call. Me. Raphie" Raph breathed heavily, and Mona could tell he was starting to lose it a little.

"Temper, temper, temper" she tsked "You're almost as bad as Hulk, except shorter. And permanently green"

"UGGH YA JUST LOVE MAKIN' ME MAD, DONCHA?!" Raph yelled, finally striking out. The punch went a little wild, his aim thrown off by his anger, and Mona backed up quickly, certain he wouldn't miss a second time.

"What did you say?" She called out "I couldn't hear you over you Hulking out"

"SHUT UP!" Raph shouted, swinging again.

"Wow-you're really- losing it- aren't you?" Mona panted, barely dodging him. She was still grinning mockingly though "How long- does it- take- on average- for you to-"

"AHH JUST BE QUIET ALREADY!" He rushed at her, which she was prepared for. With a well aimed kick she swept his legs out from under him, and while he was catching his breath she pinned him to the ground with her legs and tail.

"Completely lose control?" She finished in a triumphant whisper

He stared at her incredulously, a little more calmed down that he'd had the breath knocked out of him. "Ya freakin' planned that?" He said furiously as Master Splinter came over.

Mona shrugged "It was the only way I could think of possibly defeating you" She tapped his head, grinning "You have a very bad temper, Turtle Boy. I suggest you get that looked at"

"Very resourceful, Mona Lisa" Master Splinter smiled, helping her to her feet "I must say I was say I was not expecting that"

Raphael glared at her furiously and stormed away, and she watched him go, a little unhappy "What exactly were you expecting, Sensei?"

"Raphael to refuse to attack you" Master Splinter admitted "And he didn't. Not one of those attacks ever hit you, Mona. And it wasn't because you have good dodging skills"

Mona sighed "I think I will go talk to him, Sensei"

Splinter nodded "A wise decision. When you are finished, would you return here? I think it is high time I had you chose a weapon"

Mona bowed to him and hurried after Raph. He hadn't gone far; as soon as she exited the lair, a hand grabbed her wrist in the darkness.

"I need to talk with ya" Raph pulled her further away from the lair, ignoring her gasp of surprise. Once they were far enough away from the entrance, he stopped and turned back to her. "Ya really gotta stop pissin' me off like that" he spat.

"Why?" Mona grinned "Am I hurting your feelings?"

Raph closed his eyes "Lemme tell ya story, Lizard Girl. Maybe it'll help ya get it through yer thick head"

"I'm listening" Mona said "Although, not to insults"

Raph sighed "One time, Mikey was pissin' me off, a little worse than ya were today. When I finally lost it… " Raph took a deep breath, and Mona could hear the guilt in his voice. "I hurt him real bad Mona" he locked eyes with her "I probably woulda killed him if Donny and Leo hadn't a been there to stop me. Haven't ya noticed how whenever I get mad, how they look at me?" Raph shook his head bitterly "With so much fear in their eyes, it kills me sometimes". He pointed an angry finger at her "But it's betta than what yer doin'! They know to stay away from me when I lose control, but you! Ya tryin' a make me lose control on purpose?" Raph sighed "I don' wanna hurt ya, Lizard Girl, but if ya keep doin' that to me, I don' know if I'll be able to stop myself from hurtin' ya"

Mona shook her head "I'm sorry I didn't know it was that bad. I'll try not to do that anymore"

"Thanks" Raph looked relieved

"Although…."

"What?" Raph said, raising an eyebrow

She grinned at him "I was enjoying our little prank war"

He laughed unexpectedly "I can handle yer pranks, Lizard Girl"

Mona arched an eyebrow "We'll see". She was quiet for a moment "You know, Raphael, just because you have a temper doesn't make you a bad person"

"Are ya kiddin' me? I almost killed Mikey" Raph's shoulders slumped "I'll never forgive myself fer that"

Mona put a hand on his shoulder "Now let me tell you a story". Raph nodded and she continued "I had a father, and he had a temper just like yours, except he used his an excuse. He was a drunk, and he smoked; you know the type" Mona cleared her throat "Let's just say he didn't feel as guilty about hurting people as you do"

"Mona" he said helplessly "That's just-". He broke off and laughed bitterly "Would ya be surprised if I said that makes me mad?". He sighed and glanced at her "What happened to him?"

"He was drunk driving one night and he got in an accident" Mona rubbed her forehead "Killed himself and two other people, a newly wed couple". Mona smiled sadly "I remember when the police came to our house and told my mom what had happened, she started crying. I asked her why she was crying and she said 'Daddy killed two people'. She was more upset that two strangers she had never even met were dead, than about her own husband, because with him gone we were free". Mona glanced sideways at Raph "I still miss him, but I wish he had been more like you"

"Like me?" Raph frowned "Ya wanted yer pop to be four foot ten and green?"

Mona laughed "Are you really only four foot ten?"

Raph flushed and muttered "Naw..."

Mona shook her head, amused "I wish he was more like you because of how much you care about your family. I can't imagine why your brothers would look at you like that when they know how hard you're trying not to hurt them"

A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth "Ya know I think yer the first person to understand that, Mona Lisa"

She glanced down at her tail and sighed "I'm not sure I count as a person anymore. But I'm not going to look at you with fear, Raphael"

"Why?"

"Because I know you wouldn't hurt me on purpose" She said simply and then added with a grin "Plus, now I know how to take you down in your enraged state. One quick sweep to the legs and you're down like a sack of potatoes"

"Oh yeah?" His eyes glinted "I was goin' easy on ya that time, Lizard Girl. Next time ya won't get me so easy"

"Sure" Mona rolled her eyes and grinned cheekily "Who says there's gonna be a next time?"

"I says" Raph raised an eyebrow "Tomorra, after breakfast. Unless yer chicken, Lizard Girl?"

"Are you challenging me to a rematch?"

"I am" he crossed his arms "And don' go thinkin' we're all buddy-buddy now 'cuz we had a little heart to heart, aight? 'Cuz I still don' like ya, and I still think ya should move out"

Mona shook her head wearily "Fine, I accept your challenge, Raphael. Tomorrow". She walked back into the lair, a little confused. Up until that last part she had been thinking that maybe Raph wasn't so bad, and then he just to go say that and ruin everything. _Teenagers_ , Mona thought moodily as she entered the dojo, _So typical_.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N Hey guys just gonna let you know Temperance of Fire is being put on hold for a bit till I finish my transformers sagas. I mean I love my TMNT to death but I love Bee and the gang more. Sorry guys!(Although based on my reviews for this, I think Fadhili is honestly the only one who actually read this anyways :'D)**


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